"I really want to get my degree" - Shelton focuses also on life outside of tennis

| by Sebastian Dahlman

20-year-old Ben Shelton is enjoying the best tournament of his career as he's made it to the quarterfinals at the 2023 Australian Open.

It's only a second Grand Slam appearance for the American, but he will already surpass the career-high in the ATP Rankings of his father, Bryan Shelton, who was ranked 55th.

Despite incredible talent and move inside of the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings, Shelton admitted that he also focuses on his school and despite having a lot of work to do on the tennis court, he wants to study too.

"I'm taking classes at a bit slower pace than I was when I was full time in school. I don't have too difficult of a workload. It's very manageable while I'm playing tennis. So far in January I haven't had any problems or conflicts."

"Unreal experience" - Shelton after leaving US for first time in his life and experiencing Australian crowd
"Unreal experience" - Shelton after leaving US for first time in his life and experiencing Australian crowd

"I really want to get my degree. It's something that's important to me. That's something that I'm going to stick to and continue to do. No exams yet, so it's going to get interesting when my exam dates might conflict with some of my matches (smiling). A few assignments here and there. Pretty easy stuff."

The youngster also spoke about his performances in Melbourne that led him already to the quarterfinals of the first major of the season.

“[It is] definitely a surprise. I got on the plane with no expectations. I know that it's very hard to adjust to Australia from the United States just with the jetlag, time change and everything. It being my first time, never being out of the United States, I knew it would be a struggle."

2023 Australian Open ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview - $76,500,000
2023 Australian Open ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview - $76,500,000

“But I think it has helped me a little bit having that expectation or the feeling that I have to perform, but being able to just go out there, be myself and play free. I think that's been a big contribution to my success.”

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